School Walkouts: Pretend Activism leading to the Erosion of Education

In recent years, school walkouts have become the go-to gesture for student protest - whether it’s gun control, climate change, or foreign policy. The image is always the same: students pouring out of classrooms, chanting slogans, holding signs, and demanding change. Woo Hoo! But beneath the surface of this theatrical display lies a troubling truth: school walkouts are not acts of courage... They’re acts of convenience, often orchestrated by adults who exploit students for political theater.

Students Demand Action 2022

Let’s call it what it is: walkouts are a shortcut to virtue signaling. They require no sustained effort, no policy engagement, and no intellectual rigor. They’re designed for optics, not outcomes.

And Moms Demand Action, along with their Students Demand puppets are once again, leading the charge in helping create another year of discourse and delinquents.

Here's their latest push which was published yesterday, September 2, 2025.

Very Brave. Very Controlly. Very Prohibition!

Symbolism Over Substance: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Walking out of class for 30 minutes doesn’t make you an activist... it makes you absent. Real civic engagement requires research, dialogue, and long-term commitment. Walkouts only offer instant gratification: a photo op, a trending hashtag, and the illusion of impact. It’s activism-lite, stripped of the hard work that real change demands. (Emphasis on "demands")

Students are told they’re “raising awareness,” but awareness without action is just noise. If the goal is to influence policy, skipping algebra to chant in the parking lot isn’t the path forward. It’s a detour into performative politics. Then again, what do you expect from an organization founded on the Master Faker and Moms Demand Action founder, Shannon Watts? But anywho...

Undermining the Purpose of School

Schools exist to educate, not to host political rallies. When administrators greenlight walkouts, they send a dangerous message: that emotional expression trumps intellectual development. That disruption is a valid substitute for discipline. And that political conformity is more important than critical thinking.

As Stanley Kurtz argues in the Ethics & Public Policy Center, walkouts often reflect a shift toward “action civics,” a model that encourages protest as a form of education. But this model blurs the line between teaching students how to think and telling them what to think. It turns classrooms into battlegrounds for adult ideologies, with students as pawns.

Peer Pressure and Political Manipulation

Let’s not pretend these walkouts are purely student-driven. In many cases, they’re coordinated by activist groups, encouraged by teachers, and amplified by media outlets eager for a dramatic headline. Students who opt out are often ostracized or shamed, creating a coercive environment where dissent is punished and conformity is rewarded.

This isn’t civic engagement—it’s political conditioning. And it’s especially insidious when minors are pressured into taking public stances on complex issues they haven’t had the time—or maturity—to fully understand.

The Fallout: Division, Disruption, and Disillusionment

Walkouts fracture school communities. They pit students against each other, disrupt learning, and force educators into ideological minefields. They also dilute the seriousness of protest. When every cause gets a walkout, the gesture loses its power.

It becomes routine, expected, and ultimately ignored.

Worse, it teaches students that disruption is the highest form of expression. That shouting is more effective than studying. And that skipping class is a legitimate form of civic duty.

I mean... Here’s a snapshot of how U.S. students are performing in 2025, based on the latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and other education reports (for the slow folks in the back, all of this mean 2022, 2023, and 2024 were much worse and we've really not gotten anywhere):

National Performance Overview:

How Are U.S. Public Schools Doing in 2025?

• Reading Scores: New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US - ABC News

  • Fourth Grade: 40% of students read below NAEP’s basic level

  • Eighth Grade: About one-third read below basic level

  • Reading scores have declined steadily since 2017, with continued drops in 2022 and 2024

• Math Scores: The Nation's Report Card | NAEP

  • Fourth Grade: Slight rebound in 2024, up 2 points from 2022, but still 5 points below 2019 levels

  • Eighth Grade: No significant improvement since 2022

  • Only 39% of fourth graders and 28% of eighth graders scored at or above “proficient” in math

• Graduation Rate:

  • National adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR) is 86%

  • Disparities persist by race, income, and geography

Students be sayin, "Yeah! Let's take a day to walk out to protest, but we're really just using it to skip class cuz we can't read what's on the board, anyway!"

If You Want Change, Stay in Class

Protest has its place, but school walkouts aren’t it. If students want to engage politically, they should do so on their own time, with their own voices, and with a commitment to understanding the issues they claim to care about.

Funny thing, I run an academy that teaches JUST THAT... vcdl.org- HOLLER!

Real activism isn’t about walking out.

It’s about showing up. And if we want to raise a generation of actual thinkers, not just marchers, we need to stop glorifying disruption and start demanding (emphasis there again) substance.

Great Job, Moms & Students Demand Action! BRAVO!

Thanks for playing a part in making our kids STUPID!

Are we to expect this to happen after EVERY tragic school event?